Metrolink plans a “slow rollout” of its Positive Train Control system, train by train, on lines serving Orange County and the Inland Empire in the coming months, spokesman Scott Johnson said. “Passengers will not notice any difference,” he added.

A Metrolink employee looks down the line of the train to make sure all passengers are onboard before proceeding northbound from the Orange train station. Metrolink plans a “slow rollout” of its Positive Train Control system, train by train, on lines serving Orange County and the Inland Empire in the coming months, spokesman Scott Johnson said. “Passengers will not notice any difference,” he added.

A southbound Metrolink train arrives at the Fullerton train station in this file photo from January. Positive Train Control uses a network of GPS and radio signals to monitor all trains on the tracks. It can override the engineer and stop a train if it anticipates a collision, or slow a speeding train to prevent a derailment.

Five years after a moment of inattention sent one of its commuter trains crashing head-first into a freight train, Metrolink on Thursday introduced a computerized safety system designed to prevent such tragedies.

The 2008 crash in Chatsworth killed 25 people and made the development of such a safety system a nationwide mandate. Investigators concluded the engineer had been texting and barreled through a red light, then slammed into the oncoming freight train with enough force to shove the locomotive into the first passenger car.

Metrolink pledged in the aftermath of the crash to become the first commuter-rail agency in the nation to implement Positive Train Control, a computer system designed to automatically stop a train before a collision. It made good on its promise this week when the first commuter train in the country with the system operational shuttled through Orange and Riverside counties.

Positive Train Control uses a network of GPS and radio signals to monitor all trains on the tracks. It can override the engineer and stop a train if it anticipates a collision or slow a speeding train to prevent a derailment.

In that sense, it’s like having a GPS system in your car that can hit the brakes if it senses that you’re about to run a red light.

The National Transportation Safety Board, which investigates train collisions, has called for such a computer-aided control system since the late 1960s. Such a system would have prevented the Chatsworth crash, it concluded, as well as a 2002 crash in Placentia that killed two after a freight crew missed a signal.

Metrolink made Positive Train Control its highest priority after the Chatsworth crash and expects to spend at least $216 million equipping its trains with the system.

The project has not been without problems: It’s more than a year off schedule and around $5 million over budget, and the unexpectedly high cost to run it – around $10 million a year – contributed to a 5 percent fare increase last year.

Congress has ordered all passenger trains and most freight trains to install Positive Train Control by the end of 2015 because of what happened in Chatsworth. The rail industry has maintained for years that many railroads cannot hope to meet that deadline because of the high costs and complexities involved and has pushed Congress to extend it.

“The lessons of Chatsworth were painful, and they will never be forgotten,” said U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein, who sponsored the bill that made Positive Train Control a nationwide mandate. She accused other railroads of lobbying to delay the mandate instead of working to implement it. Metrolink, she said, is now “the safest possible railroad in America.”

Metrolink plans a “slow rollout” of Positive Train Control, train by train, on lines serving Orange County and the Inland Empire in the coming months, spokesman Scott Johnson said. Passengers will not notice any difference except for a small sign painted on the locomotive: “Equipped with Positive Train Control Technology.”

It will take months to fully implement the system across all 512 miles of track Metrolink uses. That’s because freight trains and other passenger trains also use much of the track, and their equipment will have to communicate with Metrolink’s computers and signals to make Positive Train Control work systemwide.

Nonetheless, Morris, the board chairman, said Metrolink expects to have every train and track mile covered by the end of 2014 – a full year before the federal deadline.

A handful of other commuter railroads in the Washington, D.C., and New York areas also have started work on Positive Train Control systems, according to the Federal Transit Administration. Amtrak – a passenger railroad but not a commuter one – has a train-control system running on some of its trains, as do several freight lines.??

But the Metrolink train that eased out of Los Angeles’ Union Station before dawn on Monday was the first in regular commuter service using the technology. It sped along the 91 line, through north Orange County and into Riverside. The system helped flag a slow-down area for the engineer during that debut run but did not have to step in, Chief Executive Michael DePallo said.

Metrolink celebrated that milestone on Thursday with a press conference shadowed by the crash in Chatsworth five years ago.

Former Chairman Richard Katz invoked the victims and their families and said: “We can never undue the pain that they suffered. But we can damn well make sure it never happens again.”

Five years after a moment of inattention sent one of its commuter trains crashing head-first into a freight train, Metrolink on Thursday planned to introduce a computerized safety system designed to prevent such accidents.

The 2008 crash in Chatsworth killed 25 people and made the development of such a safety system a nationwide mandate. Investigators concluded the engineer had been texting and barreled through a red light, slamming into the oncoming freight train with enough force to shove the locomotive into the first passenger car.

Metrolink pledged in the aftermath of the crash to become the first commuter-rail agency in the nation to implement Positive Train Control, a computer system designed to automatically stop a train before a collision. It made good on its promise this week, when the country’s first commuter train running the system shuttled through Orange and Riverside counties.

Positive Train Control uses a network of GPS and radio signals to monitor all trains on the tracks. It can override the engineer and stop a train if it anticipates a collision, or slow a speeding train to prevent a derailment.

The National Transportation Safety Board, which investigates train collisions, has called for such a computer-aided control system since the late 1960s. Such a system would have prevented the Chatsworth crash, it concluded, as well as a 2002 crash in Placentia that killed two after a freight crew missed a signal.

After Chatsworth, Congress ordered all passenger trains and most freight trains to install Positive Train Control by the end of 2015. The rail industry has maintained for years that many railroads cannot hope to meet that deadline because of the high costs and complexities involved, and have pushed Congress to extend it.

Metrolink made Positive Train Control its highest priority after the Chatsworth crash, and expects to spend at least $211 million equipping its trains with the system. The project has not been without problems: It’s more than a year off schedule and $5.5 million over budget, and the unexpectedly high cost to run it – around $10 million a year – contributed to a 5 percent fare increase last year.

Metrolink plans a “slow rollout” of its Positive Train Control system, train by train, on lines serving Orange County and the Inland Empire in the coming months, spokesman Scott Johnson said. “Passengers will not notice any difference,” he added.

It will take until next year to fully implement the system. That’s because Metrolink shares more than 200 miles of track with freight and other passenger railroads. Trains on those tracks will have to be able talk to each other, despite using different equipment.

Nonetheless, Johnson said Metrolink expects to meet the 2015 deadline to have Positive Train Control running on its entire system.

A handful of other commuter railroads in the Washington, D.C., and New York areas have also started work on Positive Train Control systems, according to the Federal Transit Administration. Amtrak – a passenger railroad but not a commuter one – has a train-control system running on some of its trains, as do several freight lines.

But the Metrolink train that eased out of Los Angeles’ Union Station before dawn on Monday was the first in regular commuter service using the technology. It sped along the 91 line, through north Orange County and into Riverside.

On Thursday, Metrolink board members, rail officials and Sen. Dianne Feinstein plan to celebrate that milestone at an event at Metrolink headquarters.

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